Lyric Theatre
765 Granville Street,
Vancouver,
BC
V6Z
765 Granville Street,
Vancouver,
BC
V6Z
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Famous Players, Orpheum Circuit
Firms: Sharpe & Thompson
Styles: Egyptian
Previous Names: Vancouver Opera House, Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver Theatre, International Cinema, Cinema
Nearby Theaters
The Canadian Pacific Railway built the Vancouver Opera House and was opened on February 9, 1891. It was adjacent to the first Hotel Vancouver on Granville Street between Robson Street and Georgia Street with 2,000 seats.
The first performance Wagner’s Lohengrin by touring group Emma Juch Grand English Opera Company. Sarah Bernhardt had also arrived and appeared in Fédora and “La Tosca”. CPR owned this theatre until 1909.
In 1913, it was taken over by the Orpheum Circuit and was refurbished to be renamed the Orpheum Theatre on March 17, 1913 with vaudeville. This would be the 2nd theatre in the city to grace this name. (The first being the old Alhambra Theatre). It was briefly called the Vancouver Theatre, then following renovations and removal of the gallery seating area by architectural firm Sharpe & Thompson, it reopened as the Lyric Theatre from July 26, 1935 with Neil Hamilton in “Two Heads on a Pillow” on the screen plus 5-acts of vaudeville on the stage. It became the International Cinema on December 25, 1947 and was renamed Cinema in 1949 before reverting to the Lyric Theatre on November 6, 1964. It was closed March 23, 1969 and demolished later in 1969.
Contributed by
Sean Jung
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
Here is a picture from 1961 according to the caption from the City of Vancouver archives. If you click upon it to enlarge it, a two-man play featuring Hal Holbrook and George Voskovec called “Do You Know the Milky Way?” is the current attraction.
Some dates
Orpheum opened March 17 1913 … … … Lyric opened July 26 1935 … … International Cinema closed December 10 1960 Lyric opened November 6 1964 Lyric closed March 23 1969
The offices first appear in the 1915 Vancouver City directory.
This theatre was under the direction of Famous Players Canadian Corporation.
1917 opening ad as Orpheum
Orpheum theatre opening Mon, Mar 17, 1913 – Page 5 · Vancouver Daily World (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) · Newspapers.com
and reopening as Lyric on July 26th, 1935
Lyric theatre opening Fri, Jul 26, 1935 – 20 · The Vancouver Sun (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) · Newspapers.com
Reopened on Christmas Day, 1947 as Cinema International. Grand opening ad posted. Listed as Cinema from 1949. More to come…
Closed December 10th, 1960 as Cinema. It reopened as Lyric again on November 6th, 1964 and closed on March 23rd, 1969. Reopened again as Eve on September 7th, 1972 and closed in 1978. More to come. Grand opening ads posted.
1958 photo as International Cinema added, courtesy below link.
https://vancouverthenandnow.blogspot.com/2010/04/granville-street-neon.html